Life cycle assessment in the supply chain: a review and case study

The paper addresses the use of Life Cycle Assessment as a tool for analysing freight transport activity in product supply chains. Published works that have assessed freight transport energy use in supply chain operations are reviewed and their results summarized. A case study of the energy use in the supply chains for jeans sold in both the UK and France is presented. The results of this case study indicate that the location from which cotton is sourced can have a major impact on the total energy used in commercial transport in the jeans supply chain. However, overall, this has a limited impact on the total energy used in producing and supplying jeans. This is because the vast majority of total energy used in the supply chain is consumed during cotton cultivation, denim production and jeans manufacture. The work also demonstrates that the amount of energy used by consumers transporting jeans to their homes by car can be greater than the total commercial transport energy used in the supply chain (per kg of jeans transported).

Logistics management and costs of biomass fuel supply

Discusses part of a project conducted by the authors into the logistics planning and management and costs of supplying biomass fuels to biomass-fired power stations in the UK. Defines biomass fuels and the reasons for the growth in interest in their use for electricity generation. The activities and parties involved in the biomass fuel supply chain are discussed together with the management of the chain in order to achieve smooth and consistent flow of biomass fuel to power stations. Explains the approach used to modelling the delivered costs of biomass fuels for four types of biomass fuel included in the project: forest fuel, short rotation coppice, straw and miscanthus. Comments are given on the environmental impacts of the fuel supply chains. The results indicate that straw supply systems are capable of producing the lowest delivered costs of the four fuels studied. Short rotation coppice and miscanthus, two new energy crops, are likely to have the highest delivered costs at present. This is due to the cost of growing these fuels and the financial incentives required by farmers to persuade them to grow these crops. Logistics costs (i.e. transport, storage and handling) are shown to represent a significant proportion of total delivered cost in biomass supply. Careful supply chain planning and logistics management will be of central importance to the success of the biomass industry.

A review of urban consolidation centres in the supply chain based on a case study approach

The paper considers how urban consolidation centres (UCCs) can be used in the supply chain to reduce goods vehicle traffic and its associated environmental impacts, while also helping to make supply chains more responsive and efficient and thereby generate commercial benefits. The role of UCCs is presented and the various types discussed. The potential supply chain impacts of UCCs are considered. Case studies of six UCC schemes and trials are included, with their objectives, operational characteristics and impacts compared. The critical success factors associated with UCCs are identified.

Assessing local food systems in China for building healthy mega-cities

Despite the long-lasting concern for food security in China at the national level, policy attempts to cope with this issue have often resulted to be ineffective. More importantly, they have rarely addressed the question from a local perspective. International experiences of urban food strategies proved to be quite efficacious in enhancing the local provision of food and improving the overall city sustainability by shortening the supply chain, preserving peri-urban areas and improving the nutrition of citizens. By reviewing existing practices of city farming in China, mainly ascribable to urban agriculture experiences, the intention of this paper is to reflect upon the challenges of implementing more comprehensive local food systems. In the conclusion the paper argues that, given the current institutional, socio-economic, and environmental constrains of Chinese cities there is a need of introducing holistic planning tool to assess local food systems in order to ensure the building of real healthy cities.

Supply Chain Resilience? Definition of concept and its formative elements.

The objective of this paper is to conceptualize Supply Chain Resilience (SCRes) and identify which supply chain capabilities can support the containment of disruptions and how these capabilities affect SCRes. Through a systematic and structured review of literature, this paper provides insights into the conceptualization and research methodological background of the SCM field. A total of one hundred and thirty four carefully selected refereed journal articles were systematically analyzed leading to the introduction of a novel definition for SCRes, which the authors view as the as “the ability to proactively plan and design the Supply Chain network for anticipating unexpected disruptive (negative) events, respond adaptively to disruptions while maintaining control over structure and function and transcending to a post-event robust state of operations, if possible, more favorable than the one prior to the event, thus gaining competitive advantage”. Finally, a critical examination of existing conceptual frameworks for understanding the relationships between the SCRes concept and its identified formative elements, is taking place.